Father’s name optional in birth certificate, don’t force single mothers. The court said it was sufficient for the mother to file an affidavit that the child was born from her womb.
Madras High Court has ruled that mentioning father’s name in birth certificates is optional. The court was hearing a petition by a woman, who gave birth to a baby through intrauterine insemination, against Trichy Municipal Corporation (TMC) who had issued her a birth certificate with the sperm donor’s name as the father. The court ordered TMC to correct the error.
Pointing out that neither the Births and Deaths Act of 1969 nor the Tamil Nadu Registration of Births and Deaths Rules of 2000 requires the father’s name to be recorded in the birth register, the judge said that women who decide to raise children with their own income could not be compelled to name the deserters in birth certificates.